


hail to the sunlight

by keptein



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Day At The Beach, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-03 13:11:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4102249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keptein/pseuds/keptein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I want to read my book,” Kuroo was saying from above him, “and I want to read it dry.”</p><p>“I’ll drag you into the water one way or another,” Bokuto threatened, spreading his towel carelessly across the sand and kicking up grains so Kenma had to lean away, protecting his screen. “Keiji?”</p><p>“I’ll come for a swim,” Akaashi said, getting up to join him.</p><p>“Awesome! Kenma?”</p><p>Kenma shook his head, leaning forward further for more shade and almost toppling over, Kuroo’s hand on his shoulder steadying him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hail to the sunlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fish_wifey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/gifts).



> ahh ok so! fish_wifey asked for bokuaka beach day, but then also bokuto, akaashi, kenma & kuroo slice of life, so i decided to combine the two prompts! in this fic, bokuto, akaashi and kuroo are together, while kuroo and kenma are in a queerplatonic relationship. kenma is aroace, or aroace-questioning. i hope you like it! your prompts were delightful and really gave me that summertime feel, so i hope i manage to transmit that in this fic. the title is from _hail to whatever you found in the sunlight that surrounds you_ by rilo kiley. kenma's playing megaman battle network. it's a strange game.

“Alright,” Bokuto said, turning around with a flourish and throwing his arms out, sun streaking his hair dramatically. His smile was as wide as the beach behind him, filled with sun-bathing strangers and laughing children. “Welcome!”

Kuroo elbowed him as he passed, grinning, while Akaashi offered up a dry, “All of us have been here before, Koutarou.” Bokuto sighed dramatically, arms falling to his sides, but he was quick enough to return to high spirits so he could ruffle Kenma’s hair as he walked past. Kenma tried to dodge, but wasn’t fast enough, and he shot Bokuto a glare. Bokuto just grinned down at him.

“Stop,” Kenma said.

“Or what,” Bokuto said, rubbing at Kenma’s head with his hand and making strands of hair fall into Kenma’s face.

“I’ll go home,” Kenma said, even though he wouldn’t; he had promised he’d stay, and going home alone sounded even less fun than being here. Bokuto’s expression fell and he removed his hand, arm casting a quick shadow across Kenma’s face. “Thank you,” he said quietly, and looked back down at his DS - but it was hard to see his NetNavi.exe in the sun, and with a small sigh he closed it, finally raising his head to take in the beach.

It was pristine, white against the dark blue of the ocean spreading out before him, emphasized by the sharp line of the horizon. It overwhelmed Kenma a little to be able to see so much, and he looked down again, limiting his field of vision. The smell of salt and sea was heavy in the air, blowing in a slight breeze in from the ocean. His black shoes were already dotted with light grains of sand, and he wiggled his toes, making it shift under his feet.

“Kenma, come on!” Kuroo shouted from ahead, his and Akaashi’s towels already laid out, and Kenma joined them with a small huff. He sat down on Kuroo’s towel, leaning forward to provide enough shade so he could see his screen again, MegaMan running around with every tap of a button.

“I want to read my book,” Kuroo was saying from above him, “and I want to read it dry.”

“I’ll drag you into the water one way or another,” Bokuto threatened, spreading his towel carelessly across the sand and kicking up grains so Kenma had to lean away, protecting his screen. “Keiji?”

“I’ll come for a swim,” Akaashi said, getting up to join him.

“Awesome! Kenma?”

Kenma shook his head, leaning forward further for more shade and almost toppling over, Kuroo’s hand on his shoulder steadying him.

Akaashi and Bokuto disappeared off, heading for the water, and Kuroo sat down next to him, bumping his shoulder. “I swear, keeping Kou entertained is a full-time job.”

“Good thing you’re both taking care of it, then,” Kenma said absently, and Kuroo snorted.

“Point,” he said and pulled out his battered crime fiction, settling down to read.

Kenma only paid half attention to his game - the viruses were easy grinding - while he listened to the lapping of the waves, the happy shrieks of children, and Kuroo’s occasional chuckle at his book. He was sure he could hear Bokuto’s loud laugh among the waves too, although Akaashi’s response was lost in the distance. The sounds all blended together into the general noise of summer; the heat at his back, the taste of brine on his tongue and the sun on his fingers further testaments to the season.

He and Kuroo sat in familiar silence until Akaashi and Bokuto returned, both smiling, Bokuto’s arm slung around Akaashi’s shoulders. Kuroo put his book down as they approached, giving Kenma a nudge to pull him out of his game. “Hey,” he said. “You guys have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Bokuto said, exhaling hard as he sat down. “Except for when Keiji dunked me without warning!”

“You said there were no rules,” Akaashi said.

“There’s rules, and then there’s _rules_ ,” Bokuto protested, squinting up at him.

Kuroo clucked his tongue. “Sore loser, Kou.”

Kenma scratched at his neck as he listened to them argue, frowning when the pain lingered. “Did we bring sunscreen?” he asked - Bokuto, Akaashi and Kuroo all paused, and then the terrible two turned to look at Akaashi.

He raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t bring any,” he said. “Why would I?”

Bokuto’s eyes visibly tracked over his bare chest, dark skin glowing in the sun, and then he looked at Kuroo. In unison, they turned back to Kenma, Kuroo shrugging apologetically. “We forgot,” he said. “Sorry.”

Akaashi shook his head, Kenma’s frown deepening. “We’re going to get burnt,” he said.

“You know what the solution is,” Bokuto said immediately. “Stay in the water!”

“That makes it worse,” Akaashi said, and Bokuto gave him a betrayed glare while Kuroo laughed at them. He got up, clasping Bokuto’s arm.

“We’ll go find a store,” he said, grinning at him, and Bokuto looked confused for a second before he got to his feet too, smile growing.

“Right,” he said. “Buy some sunscreen!”

“Mhm,” Kuroo said, hand slipping down to grab Bokuto’s.

“Have fun,” Akaash said dryly and watched them go.

“They won’t be back for a while,” Kenma commented.

“Oh, I know,” Akaashi said.

“You could have gone with them,” Kenma said. Akaashi settled down, stretching out on his towel.

“I wanted to stay here with you,” he said, and Kenma made a small noise of surprise, looking over at him. He and Akaashi’s friendship was mostly unspoken, quieter than his relationship with Bokuto and entirely different from his relationship with Kuroo - having a vocal affirmation of it was unusual, but not unpleasant. Kenma wiggled his shoes in the sand.

“Thanks,” he said finally, and Akaashi shot him a smile.

“We need to strategize as well,” he said.

Kenma nodded. “Did you bring the water pistols?”

“They’re in my bag,” he confirmed, nodding towards it.

“An ambush, then,” Kenma suggested, and Akaashi’s eyes lit up.

“When they return?”

Kenma nodded again. “If we bury them in the sand for now,” he said, “they won’t see them until it’s too late.”

“Diabolical,” Akaashi said approvingly, sounding very similar to his boyfriends, and Kenma flushed a little.

“Kuro will get mad,” he warned.

Akaashi gave a quiet laugh. “Tetsurou should learn what to expect,” he said. “He and Koutarou started it, after all.”

Kenma shrugged, remembering last year’s water pistol fight. He’d never fully understood why Kuroo went along with Bokuto’s ideas so easily - for a long time he’d attributed it to attraction, which always seemed to make people act oddly, but Akaashi seemed unaffected. Then again, as Kenma looked at him now, he supposed they often did get Akaashi involved too, whether it was water pistol fights or sexual escapades Kenma would have preferred staying ignorant about.

Akaashi handed him a water pistol, and they went down to the water’s edge to fill them, close enough to their stuff that they didn’t have to worry about thieves - but Kenma still shot his DS quick glances to make sure it wasn’t moved by anyone. The water lapped at his feet, and he stepped away as soon as he’d filled the water pistol, full and heavy in his hands.

Once Akaashi had filled his too, they returned to their out-stretched towels, burying the water pistols beneath a shallow layer of sand where they lay in hiding until Bokuto and Kuroo returned.

Kenma picked up his DS. “Tell me when they get here.”

“I will,” Akaashi said. In the end, he didn’t have to - Bokuto and Kuroo started shouting as soon as they were within hearing range, waving their arms around.

“We got sunscreen!”

“And ice cream!” Bokuto added, two ice cream cones in his hands while Kuroo held the other two.

“Did you -” Kuroo started, but was interrupted as Akaashi rose to his feet in a flash; with his water pistol in hand, he sprayed a thick stream of water across Kuroo’s chest, wetting his t-shirt. Kenma followed soon after, blasting Bokuto with his own pistol and getting Kuroo’s hair on the upswing.

Kuroo gaped, momentarily frozen, wet bangs dripping over his face. There was a beat of silence before one of the cones he had been holding fell to the ground. Bokuto started laughing, almost bent in half from the force of it, and Akaashi laughed too, making Kenma smile.

“It’s not funny,” Kuroo said, and Bokuto laughed harder, gasping for breath beside him. “I didn’t know we were doing it this year too!”

“It’s tradition, now,” Akaashi said. Kenma nodded in agreement.

“Your face -” Bokuto got out, and then he dissolved into laughter again.

“Shut up,” Kuroo said, and threw the single cone he was still holding at Bokuto, leaving a streak of cream over his chest.

“What the - Tetsu!” Bokuto tackled him, hitting the ground next to Kenma, and they rolled around in the sand until Kenma stretched his foot out and poked Kuroo with it. Kuroo raised his head and looked at him, a smile still on his face before he grew comically stern. “You,” he said, and wrapped an arm around Kenma to haul him down too - Kenma landed on Bokuto’s shoulder with an oof, Kuroo’s fingers digging into his sides and making him laugh. “I’ll get you,” Kuroo was saying, as Bokuto yelled for Akaashi to join them.

“No, thank you,” Akaashi said.

“What, you think you’re better than us?” Bokuto asked - he got up and disappeared out of Kenma’s eyesight, but moments later he could hear Akaashi’s protests about sand and Bokuto’s laughter. Sand was creeping into Kenma’s shirt, scratching against his sunburnt skin. Kuroo had stopped tickling him now, hands resting in the sand, and was looking down at him with a slight smile. Kenma returned it.

“Good day, right?” Kuroo said.

“Yeah,” Kenma said. From here, he could see a dark mark underneath Kuroo’s jaw, stark against his skin. “You have a hickey,” he informed him as he sat up, crossing his legs.

Kuroo’s hand flew to cover the side of his neck. “What, where?”

Kenma indicated, and Kuroo pulled a face.

“Damn it, Kou, I told you no marks!”

“Couldn’t help it,” Bokuto sang back, and Kuroo sighed, sitting up and taking a seat between Kenma and Akaashi. He leaned into Akaashi a little, and Kenma followed him so they were both slanted, his head bent to see the screen of his DS, which he’d picked back up.

Akaashi and Kuroo were talking about water pistols - out of the corner of his eye, Kenma could see Kuroo rubbing at Akaashi’s knuckles in easy, familiar strokes. Bokuto was mostly quiet, although he interrupted occasionally to threaten Akaashi and Kenma with next year’s retaliation.

“I still want ice cream,” Kuroo was saying thoughtfully. “You guys made me drop it.”

Kenma looked over at the four cones sticking up from the sand.

“Oh yeah, I dropped mine, too, huh,” Bokuto said.

“You just noticed?” Akaashi asked incredulously. Bokuto spluttered, immediately trying to defend himself while Kuroo laughed. He ruffled a hand in Bokuto’s hair and stood up, saying,

“Alright, I’m going for ice cream again. No water pistols allowed when I get back, alright?”

“I’ll come with you,” Akaashi said - he still hadn’t let go of Kuroo’s hand, and Kuroo pulled him up easily. “Kenma?”

Kenma waved the DS in his hands.

“I could -”

“No, you’ll just drop it again because you think you see a shark and get too excited,” Akaashi said flatly. Bokuto slumped.

“Bye,” Kuroo said cheerfully, and they left, Bokuto lying down spread-eagle on his towel. He inched closer to Kenma, pushing his face insistently into his knee.

“Kenma, Kenma,” he said.

Kenma moved his DS so he could look down at Bokuto, eyes thinned. “What.”

“Entertain me,” Bokuto said, rolling over onto his back and shielding his eyes from the sun. “I’m bored.”

Kenma hunched over his game, glancing desperately in the direction Akaashi and Kuroo had gone before he looked back at Bokuto. "What do you wanna do," he muttered. The sun made Bokuto's hair intensely bright, almost glowing against the dark of Kenma's towel.

"What was that?" Bokuto said loudly.

"Nevermind," Kenma said, and Bokuto laughed, pushing at him with a hand.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said, trailing off as he closed his eyes to the sun. "What are you playing?"

"Mega Man," Kenma replied.

"Is it fun?"

"It's not the best one," he said truthfully.

Bokuto smiled, eyes still shut. "Interesting," he said. If Kuroo had said it like that, it would have been sarcastic, but Bokuto meant it sincerely - he always did that, mimicked Kuroo's behaviour with an edge that was completely his own.

Kenma gave a small nod, not minding that Bokuto couldn't see it. For a while, all you could hear was the tapping of his pen as he fought viruses, and the lapping of the waves.

"Maaaan," Bokuto said eventually. "The beach is pretty relaxing, huh?"

"It's hard to see," Kenma said quietly.

"Still!"

Kenma paused, before he said, "Yeah." Bokuto's smile grew wider.

"And soon Kuroo and Akaashi will come back with ice cream, and then we'll eat the ice cream, and then we'll go for a swim! Will you come? Come on, Kenma, you need to swim, it's good for you. Are you slacking on training now that school is out?"

"You're not my mother, Bokuto," Kenma muttered, and that made Bokuto laugh uproariously, sitting up and clutching his stomach.

"Could you _imagine_ ," he said, wiping at his eyes. "No, no, no. It's important to stay in shape, is all I'm saying!"

"I practice with Kuro," Kenma said. He hesitated, then added, "and Shouyou, when he comes down."

Bokuto grinned. "Awesome! Hinata's a good practice partner."

"Yeah," Kenma said, in lieu of giving a proper reply. He started tapping at his screen again while Bokuto shuffled sand around, making some poor attempt at a sand castle.

He was the first to spot Akaashi and Kuroo when they returned, jumping up and waving. Sand scattered everywhere as he moved, and Kenma frowned, shuffling away a little.

"Ice cream, ice cream," he was saying as they got closer, immediately grabbing a cone from Akaashi and licking at it. "Mmm, ice cream."

"How are you _real_ ," Kuroo said with some amazement, watching as Bokuto tried to lick some ice cream off his nose. "Does the beach make you five years old?"

"No," Bokuto said, still trying to get at the ice cream. "Look, I made a sand mountain!"

Akaashi and Kuroo exchanged a glance, and then Akaashi was laughing, Bokuto grinning with them. He handed a cone to Kenma, who closed his DS with a sigh and accepted it, holding it in both hands.

"Look who's joining us," Kuroo said, smirking at him, and Kenma frowned.

"I've been here the whole time."

"I know," Kuroo said amicably. "Do you like your ice cream?"

Kenma gave it a tentative lick and nodded. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," Bokuto enthused, contorting to wipe his mouth on his swimming trunks as he sat back down. "We were just talking about what a good idea the beach was, right, Kenma?"

Kenma shrugged.

" _Great_ idea," Bokuto said again, finishing the last of his ice cream. "Okay, who wants to go for a swim!"

"Don't swim after eating," Kuroo advised.

"That's a myth -" Akaashi started. Bokuto crossed his eyes and said, "Actually," in a mimicry of Akaashi's baritone, making Kuroo laugh and Kenma smile despite himself.

"Live a little, Akaashi," Bokuto continued, patting his shoulder. Akaashi raised an eyebrow. "Wait, don't - do you have any other tricks up your sleeve, you look like you do."

"I don't," Akaashi said, so pleasantly that Bokuto shivered a little, looking worried.

"Swim," Kuroo said firmly, before they all got distracted.

"Yeah! Kenma promised to come," Bokuto said.

"Really?" Kuroo and Akaashi looked at Kenma, who shrugged again, cheeks red. He hadn't promised anything, but now that they were all looking at him, Bokuto's eyes big and hopeful, he hunched a little.

"Yeah, I'll come," he said, and Bokuto let out a laugh, patting him on the back.

"Awesome!" He then turned his eyes on Akaashi and Kuroo, looking at them both in turn.

Kuroo looked around. "Let's all go," he said. "I'll ask someone to watch our stuff for a while, yeah?"

Bokuto gave him a thumbs up, and Akaashi nodded. Kuroo got up again and wandered over to a nearby couple, gesturing back to them as he talked. He walked back, smiling and nodding. "They'll watch it," he said. "Hold on, Kenma, I'll put some sunscreen on your neck before you go out in the water."

"Who's the mother now," Bokuto said gleefully, and Kenma huffed, taking off his t-shirt and turning his neck up into Kuroo's touch.

"Thank you," he said when Kuroo was done, the back of his neck and the top of his shoulders cool and tingly.

"Anytime," Kuroo said, smiling at him. "Ready for the water?"

"Always ready!" Bokuto shouted before Kenma could reply, and Kenma shrugged, inclining his head in agreement.

"Koutarou," Akaashi scolded, and Bokuto just laughed, tugging on his hand so they both splashed into the water. Kenma followed more tentatively, his shoes and socks left behind with his DS. He stepped into the water carefully, looking down at where the sand welled up around his foot. As he looked back up, he could see Akaashi, Bokuto and Kuroo ahead of him - Bokuto splashing Kuroo enthusiastically while Kuroo looked put-upon, Akaashi hiding his mouth under the water, the sun big and bright above them. When Bokuto saw him looking, he gestured enthusiastically, soon joined by Kuroo. Akaashi met Kenma's eyes, looking pleased. "Kenma, come on!"

He took another step into the water, keeping his eyes on them. The long line of the horizon didn’t seem so intimidating when it was broken by the three of them, and the third step came even easier, the fourth almost thoughtless. Bokuto’s eyebrows were raised high in expectation, and Akaashi just looked quietly confident - Kuroo was smiling, still holding a hand out. “I’m coming,” Kenma told them.


End file.
